Hill Heat

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and lead author of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will hold a joint press conference following a meeting on global climate change. They will discuss the steps leading up to December’s international negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark.

CONTACT: Jodi Seth/Whitney Smith, 202-224-4159

Witnesses

• Abraham Breehey, Director, Legislative Affairs, Department of Government Affairs, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers
• Carol Berrigan, Director, Industry Infrastructure, Nuclear Energy Institute
• Kenneth P. Green, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
• Margo Thorning, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, American Council for Capital Formation
• Van Ton-Quinlivan, Director,Workforce Development and Strategic Programs, Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Witnesses

• Dr. Ray Kopp, Resources for the Future
• Dr. Ted Gayer, The Brookings Institution
• David Hawkins, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Jonathan Banks, Clean Air Task Force
• Dr. Daniel Sarewitz, Arizona State University

Witnesses

• Dr. Ken Caldeira, Senior Scientist, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Dr. John Shepherd, School of Ocean & Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton
• Lee Lane, Co-director, AEI Geoengineering Project, the American Enterprise Institute
• Dr. James Fleming, Professor and Director of Science, Technology and Society, Colby College
• Dr. Alan Robock, Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University

Attention to U.S. climate legislation is increasing on Capitol Hill. In June of this year, the House passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), and the Senate is considering a similar proposal by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). With international climate negotiations scheduled in Copenhagen for December, many view U.S. action on this issue as critical to a successful outcome. As a result, the central debate is no longer about the need for action, but about the form our actions will take.

On November 4, the Brookings Institution will host a discussion on a new series of papers on U.S. climate policy design. Each paper tackles a different design topic, but they all share a common set of goals: to acknowledge the complexity inherent in climate policy; to explain the fundamental challenges involved in addressing a particular set of design features; and to suggest a credible path forward, calling attention to tradeoffs where they exist. Panelists will focus on such issues as emissions reduction targets, cost containment measures, oversight of the carbon derivatives market, the allocation of emissions allowances and provisions to mitigate the impacts on trade-exposed industries.

After the panel, participants will take audience questions.

3:30 pm–3:45 am

Welcoming Remarks and Introduction

Charles Ebinger, Senior Fellow and Director, Energy Security Initiative, The Brookings Institution

3:45 pm–5:00 pm

Panelists

• Bryan Mignone, Fellow (on leave), The Brookings Institution
• Adele C. Morris, Fellow and Policy Director, Climate and Energy Economics Project, The Brookings Institution
• Carolyn Fischer, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
• Richard Morgenstern, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
• Craig Pirrong, Professor of Finance and Energy Markets Director for the Global Energy Management Institute, Bauer College of Business, University of Houston

To RSVP for this event, please call the Office of Communications at 202.797.6105 or click here.

The Brookings Institution
Falk Auditorium
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by U.S. Senator, Barbara Boxer (D – CA), will reconvene the business meeting on Wednesday, November 4 to consider S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. Then the business meeting will recess to conduct a briefing for the full committee on the legislation.

Witnesses

Panel I

• Todd D. Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State

Panel II

• Timothy E. Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund
• Eileen Claussen, President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
• Steven Groves, J.D., Bernard and Barbara Lomas Fellow, The Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, The Heritage Foundation

The Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a Business Meeting to consider the following item: Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, S. 1733

_Witnesses_

• Linda Adams, Secretary, California Environmental Protection Agency
• Dave Johnson, Organizing Director, Laborers’ Union Eastern Region, Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)
• J. Stephan Dolezalek, Managing Director, VantagePoint Venture Partners
• David Hawkins, Director, Climate Center, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Eugene Trisko, Attorney at Law, On behalf of the United Mine Workers of America
• Charlie Smith, President & Chief Executive Officer, CountryMark
• Paul Cicio, Executive Director, Industrial Energy Consumers of America

_Witnesses_

• John Podesta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for American Progress
• Ned Helme, President, Center for Clean Air Policy
• Jonathan Lash, President, World Resources Institute
• Iain Murray, Vice-President for Strategy, Competitive Enterprise Institute